C. S. Lakshmi

C. S. Lakshmi Biography

C. S. Lakshmi, known by her pseudonym Ambai is a feminist writer belonging to Tamil language. She is also an independent researcher in women's studies in India. She considers herself as a "feminist who has lived without compromise". Siragukal Muriyum, Veetin mulaiyil oru samaiyalarai and Kaatil Oru Maan are her notable works written in Tamil language. She has also authored a few books in English such as The Face behind the mask : Women in Tamil literature, A Purple Sea, A Meeting on the Andheri Overbridge: Sudha Gupta Investigates, In A Forest, A Deer: Stories By Ambai, Seven seas & Seven mountains (in two volumes) etc. She is a current member of the University of Michigan's Global Feminisms Project.

Lakshmi was born in Coimbatore in 1944. She grew up in Mumbai and Bangalore. She is married to Vishnu Mathur, a filmmaker, and the couple is now settled in Mumbai. She took her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She began her professional career as a school teacher followed by college lecturer. Lakshmi published her first work Nandimalai Charalilae in 1962. The book was originally written in her keens. Tamil novel Andhi Maalai is her first published fiction book, published in the year 1966. The book was well appreciated by critics, and also received "Kalaimagal Narayanaswamy Aiyar" Prize.

She published one short story titled Siragukal muriyum in the literary magazine Kanaiyazhi, which received critics’ acclaim. Following it, she received two-year fellowship to study the work of Tamil women writers. She published her research work in 1984 titled The Face behind the mask. Most of her works were women-centric ones, with feminist ideologies and preached women’s freedom.

Published: September 04, 2018

Updated: September 04, 2018